The situation in the Gaza Strip resembles “hell on earth,” the head of the Gaza Strip agency said on Tuesday. UN for Palestinian refugees, on a visit to the devastated territory, where Israeli troops and Islamist Hamas militiamen are fighting fierce battles.
Israel has been bombing the narrow Palestinian territory since October 7, in response to the attack carried out by Islamist militants from Hamas, in which they killed 1,200 people and kidnapped about 240.
In parallel to the bombings, Israeli troops began a ground operation in the enclave on October 27, with the objective of “annihilate” to the Islamist movement, which has ruled Gaza since 2007.
The territory’s Health Ministry says 18,412 people have died since the start of the Israeli offensive, mostly women and children.
The inhabitants of Gaza, under a “complete” siege by Israel, plead for “end this hell on earth“, wrote Philippe Lazzarini, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), on the social network X, during a visit to the territory.
The Ministry of Health of Loop accused the Israeli army of storming a hospital in the north of the enclave, and regrouping the men, including medical staff, in the compound’s courtyard.
The army did not immediately react, but Israel often accuses the Islamist group of using tunnels under hospitals, schools and mosques for military purposes. Hamas rejects these accusations.
The General Assembly of the UN plans to vote this Tuesday on a non-binding resolution calling for a “humanitarian ceasefire” in Gaza, where 1.9 million of the 2.4 million inhabitants have been displaced, according to the international organization.
Displaced people, hunger and disease
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on Monday claimed significant progress in Gaza, where fighting has spread to the south of the territory.
“Hamas is on the brink of dissolution, the IDF (Israeli Defense Forces) is occupying its last strongholds”, he assured.
Humanitarian organizations warn that, soon, the beleaguered territory will be overwhelmed by disease and famine, and they are putting pressure on Israel to protect civilians.
The inhabitants of Gaza face a catastrophic situation, said the diplomatic chief of the European Union (EU), Josep Borrell, comparing the territory’s situation on Monday with that of Germany during World War II.
In the north of the enclave, Israeli troops “They attacked the Kamal Adwan hospital after having besieged and bombed it for several days”said the spokesperson for the Ministry of Health, Ashraf al Qidreh. “We fear that medical personnel will be detained or killed”he added.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) noted that the hospital remained “surrounded by Israeli troops and tanks” and that had been reported “fighting with armed groups in its vicinity for three consecutive days”.
Downtown, Al Aqsa Hospital was inundated with victims on Monday, including dozens of children, following Israeli attacks on the Al Maghazi refugee camp.
In the south, Israeli bombings killed at least 24 people in Rafah, on the border with Egypt, where tens of thousands of people arrived to take refuge from airstrikes in the north, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
A bombing left a crater and destroyed surrounding buildings. Among the rubble, some teenagers tried to rescue their belongings.
“There are still people belowsaid Abu Jazar, 23. “We call on the Arab people and the world to press to stop the attacks on Gaza”, he stressed.
Vote in the UN General Assembly
The Israeli military said on Tuesday it had bombed a site in Jabaliyia, near Gaza City, from where rockets were being fired towards the southern Israeli city of Sderot.
The army also claimed to have raided a Hamas compound, where they found a multitude of weapons and a weapons factory.
The armed force reported that 105 of its soldiers died in the Strip since the beginning of the offensive, 13 of them from “fire friend” and others in accidents with vehicles or weapons.
The UN General Assembly is due to vote on Tuesday on a resolution to call for a new truce in Gaza, a call that the Security Council could not vote on on Friday due to the United States veto.
The conflict has multiplied violence in the West Bank, occupied by Israel since 1967. Israeli forces killed four people in the city of Jenin, the Ministry of Health of this Palestinian territory reported this Tuesday.
The Israeli army told AFP that it had carried out an operation in this city and found “explosive devices placed under roads to attack security forces”.
Fears of a regional conflagration are also growing, with daily artillery duels on the border between Israel and Lebanon.
Source: Gestion
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